Advise on outdoor camera purchase

Hi all,
Need help with finding reliable information on what dome camera to purchase to monitor outdoor activities.
I have ELK M1, which would be nice to incorporate the video security, but ELK integration is not really a requirement.
Does anyone have whitepaper or tutorial on what is needed to get started?
 
Misha

I've had good luck with a Bosch Autodome (found it on ebay). It's high quality, has alarm input/output capability, optional ethernet interface, and a decent weatherproof dome. The design is modular so components can be replaced if necessary.

Budget?
 
Fixed/PTZ?
 
Recording or viewing only?
 
IP/Analog?
 
Existing infrastructure/new install?
 
Desired performance/image quality/size?

new install, ip, recording and viewing...
Costco seems to see package with dvr and 6 cams. should I just go with it?

A consumer level item...it'll get you consumer level performance and the units are not IP, they are analog. It may or may not be acceptable for your purposes. In my world, it'd be unacceptable.
 
You need to pick your budget and then it'll be easier. You can buy a Costco kit for the price I'd pay for a single IP camera or 2 mid level analog cameras themselves, without peripherals. 
 
I'd strongly recommend spending the money for quality gear instead of getting something that "works" however as you get more involved, you find that it really can't or doesn't do as you want.
 
That said, those kits have their place, the same as Harbor Freight tools, however in analogies, it'd be like expecting the cheap Black & Decker hammer drill you bought at Walmart to drill a hole through concrete like a Hilti. They both may work, however there's going to be glaring differences between the two.

I personally got lower end CCTVs, perhaps $150ish 5 years back. I've regretted that purchase as they don't capture nearly a good enough PQ to postively identify anyone. I even captured TWO taggers on camera, printed it out, but it was so grainy that I couldn't prove it was my neighbors kid (15 houses down).
 
If you're using it to record bad guys, spend the $$. Do *not* get the CostCo ones, the cops will look at it and say it could be anyone.

Costco does sell one IP camera (or did). It was Philips. But We got them, then returned them without installing for exactly the reason DEL described above in post 5. What is the point of cameras if you can't figure out who broke into your house, or vandalized your car, because the images are awful. So we held off for now. But I am interested in seeing what you find. We have Cat 6 wire run in the house for future cameras as well.

my systems
1-foscam ip cameras
2-Zmode ip and wired
3-Night Owl wired cam with dvr
4-GeoVision dvr pc card
 
If you want ip cheep but still very good look at Foscam,they have indoor/outdoor.  Then you need a computer and software to record like  blueiris this is what i use.
 
Zmode wired cameras are good
 
Night Owl have good cheep dvr systems with camears but cameras suck unless you upgrade to better cameras.I had this system running 2yrs with no problem. I even got 2 people steeling mail with cheep camera but it was real close to mailbox.
 
Geovision is very good,i have dvr card in computer and zmode wired camears.It is a little $ but you cam do so much with it.

It really depends on what exactly you want to watch.
 
I wanted to see who rang the doorbell and to watch a covered front door porch area (and sidewalk leading to it) and the mailbox on the porch.  I dropped a Cat 5 cable to the area and then spent two weeks researching POE IP cameras downloading spec sheets and installation and user manuals.  I ended up trying 2 longer lens cameras (one with IR and one without) before settling on the new Vivotek FD8151V that gives me decent night shots up the short sidewalk and great shots of the porch with lots of trigger alert options.  The mailbox and doorbell are both inputs to my Elk M1, and either one triggers an output which then uses the digital input on the camera to send me emails with snapshots and video from the camera.  .I also configured the camera separately for a motion detection window and recording.  I just got it up and running and hope to integrate the camera with either Blue Iris or Vitamin D for better motion detection and even more alert/recording options.  The FD8151V is a very small footprint (very high WAF), and I mounted it just over the top of the door jamb of the door.  
 
One lesson learned:  Camera focal length/lens length is a key to getting what you want.  Longer lenses are great for detail but you don't get much "on air" time if people are in and out of video too quickly.  I started with a 6mm lens, tried 4.6, and ended up with 2.5.  Ideally, i would have preferred something slightly longer, but it wasn't worth the money or the increased footprint size of the camera to get to a varifocal lens.  I've only had it up and running for two days now, but it now does exactly what I needed, and once it get the third party software integrated with it, it will be even more useful.
 
You really need to define what you want to see and then determine what works to let you see what you want to see....

Do you have pics of the Vivotek cam installed?  I am looking for a mini dome cam myself for my front door, would love to see how it looks.

Here are two photos.  
 
The first one is the mailman getting ready to deliver the mail.  I have it set up so that once the Elk output triggers the camera (which happens when the mailbox lid is opened), I get seven snapshots before and seven snapshots after the event (which is configurable). The second shot is a black and white about 30 minutes after sunset.  I don't have any "dead of night" night time shots yet, but can set one up if would you like.  The light on the porch consists of two 13W CFLs (which I think are the equivalent of either a 40W or 60W incandescent).  I finished putting this altogether last Saturday before we left town, and I have not changed any of the default settings regarding camera or IR day/night sensors.  The FD8151V is mounted about 8" above the top of the door just to the left of the lock/handle side doorjamb (which is also where the  doorbell is)  I liked this model because it is low profile vandal resistant with a metal enclosure with tamper resistant screws.  I would have been concerned about putting the other two models I looked at so low becasue they were much bigger and had easily removable covers.
 
Opps...  Looks like I can only upload one pic with this post.  The lo light one will follow.
 
 

Here's the lo light snapshot
 
 
 

Dan, I just realized that you probably wanted a pic of the camera itself....  Sorry I didn't read your post more carefully.  I can get that for you this weekend when I am back home....
 
Sam

Very nice!
 
I like the idea of a small HD dome above the door.  So you used a 2.5mm lens on your dome? 
 
Do you have a motion detector to turn on the front porch lighting when the lighting is off?